


Nothing Good Ever Happens After 2 A.M.

by RomanoffonamoR



Series: Marvel Cinematic Littleverse [15]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Accidental wetting, Age Play, Big Pepper Potts, Big Tony Stark, Bigs and littles are known, Bonding, Diapers, F/M, Gen, Little Happy Hogan, Littleverse, Marvel Cinematic Littleverse, Minor Self Harm, Natty slaps at her own face and head to quiet the loud, Non-Sexual Age Play, Phase 2: Iron Man 2, heartmates, little Natasha romanoff, the loud being her adult self telling her what to do
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-16
Updated: 2018-06-07
Packaged: 2019-04-23 14:53:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14334870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RomanoffonamoR/pseuds/RomanoffonamoR
Summary: Natasha is currently undercover at Stark Industries as Natalie Rushman.What happens when she drops at the office and the only person around to help her is her boss, Pepper Potts?





	1. Chapter 1

Pepper sighed in frustration to herself as she traversed the darkened but familiar hallways of Stark Industries towards her office. Or what used to be her office, technically. She hadn’t quite finished moving into her new one, or truthfully even started the process at all. Too much going on. Too many fires to put out. Too many business dealings to save. Her boss, no - her _ex_ boss -wasn’t making the transition any easier by nearly getting himself killed.

Not that Pepper wasn’t used to Tony almost dying, but that didn’t mean she knew how to properly deal with his suicidal tendencies. So far her methods of dealing involved spending a night with a stupidly expensive bottle of vintage alcohol, something _not_ from Tony’s personal stash, or burying herself in her work until she fell asleep at her desk.

She was planning on that second option tonight, mostly since she didn’t trust Tony not to do something incredibly dumb for the next 24 hours, and dealing with collapsing mergers and angry shareholders while hungover was not something she was keen on attempting. No, she’d work herself into a coma trying to salvage her boss’s - her _former_ boss's - company’s reputation.

Iron Man had nearly been defeated less than a handful of hours ago, and while his superhero persona wasn’t officially connected to Stark Industries, thanks to Tony’s “I am Iron Man” speech, it sure as heck felt like it was. She just _knew_ she was going to lose the Johnson account over this. She’d be surprised if there wasn’t already a letter in her inbox informing her of such.

Maybe she should reconsider that bottle of vintage cognac?

Rounding the final corner in the labyrinth that was Stark Industries, Pepper nearly tripped over a pair of legs stretched out across the carpeted floor. “Natalie!” she cried out as she placed one hand on the wall to steady herself, and one on her chest to try and slow her now rapidly beating heart.

Natalie Rushman, Tony’s new personal assistant, was sitting with her back to the wall staring at her feet. She was still wearing the red dress and pumps she’d been wearing in Monaco, as well as the makeup and hair that completed the look. Despite all of this, she looked absolutely _nothing_ like the woman Pepper had met earlier at the racetrack, or previously when Tony had signed his company over to her.

She looked younger. _Much_ younger. Wait, was she a Little?

“Natalie-- Miss Rushman, are you alright? Did something happen?” Pepper asked as she took a step back, not wanting to crowd the obviously vulnerable girl.

Instead of answering her verbally, Natalie nodded her head for a few seconds and then switched to shaking it.

“Okay, well,” Pepper floundered, pressing the back of her hand to her forehead as she closed her eyes for a few moments. She didn’t need this right now. She had business relationships to salvage and high profile accounts to save. But she couldn’t very well leave the poor girl on the floor outside of her office.

“Natalie, are you dropped right now?” Pepper finally asked, deciding she needed to approach this like she would any other Little employee at Stark Industries. There were protocols for this, procedures to be followed. Heck, Pepper had written most of them herself back when she’d first become Tony’s personal assistant. She’d just never been the one to implement them before.

At first Natalie seemed confused by the question, but eventually she scrunched her face up and nodded her head.

“Alright. Is there someone I can call to come pick you up?” Pepper followed up with, though she had a sinking feeling she already knew what the girl’s answer would be. Natalie Rushman was from the legal department of Stark Industries’ Manhattan Office, so it was highly unlikely that she knew any Bigs here in Malibu. Leave it to Tony to uproot the poor girl and then almost get himself killed in front of her.

As predicted, Natalie shook her head, her lower lip trembling as her eyes became shiny with unshed tears. Sniffling, the girl pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and hiding her face in the cradle this new position created. She was clearly crying, even if she wasn’t making a sound.

Pepper sighed quietly to herself as she thought about her options. She could call Tony to come take care of his new employee, but he’d already been one and a half sheets to the wind by the time he and Happy had dropped her off at the office. Tony was a much better Big than she was, even when he was drunk off his ass, but somehow she didn’t think Natalie seeing him like that right now would be the best thing for her.

“Okay, how about I call someone and they can talk to you on the phone? Would that be okay? Do you have a Big back in New York, Natalie? If you don’t know their number I’m sure I can search for it if you tell me their name.” Pepper began digging in her bag for her phone before she’d even finished speaking, only when she’d finally found it and pulled it out, she noticed that her suggestion had only made the girl even _more_ upset. Her shoulders were now shaking with her silent sobs.

“Oh honey, I’m sorry. I’m not very good at this,” Pepper lamented as she carefully lowered herself onto her knees next to the crying Little. It was an understatement, really. Pepper was _awful_ at Caretaking Littles. It wasn’t so much that she didn’t have the desire to do it, she’d just never been able to tap into that part of her biology before. At least not to the extent that would be helpful in this situation.

Caretaking Happy was different. He was eleven and needed minimal supervision while dropped. And while he certainly acted like a spoiled brat when his Pop or other Littles were around, when it was just him and her he tended to keep to himself in his room or the daycare, depending on if they were at home or at the office.

Unfortunately the building’s daycare center was only open during business hours, and as uncomfortable as Pepper was right now, she wasn’t about to call any of the staff into work in the middle of the night. That being said, she did _own_ the building, and could therefore utilize the facilities to take Care of Natalie herself until the morning when the girl either woke up, or someone better suited came to rescue them.

“Natalie, did Mr. Stark give you a tour of the building yet? We have a really nice daycare center a few floors down. There’s lots of fun toys and games to play, and a really big, comfy couch you can nap on. Would you like to go there? It’s closed right now, but I can open it up for you if you like,” Pepper offered, reaching a gentle hand out to brush some of the girl’s thick, curly hair to the side so she could hopefully see her face.

It was clearly the wrong thing to do. As soon as her fingers made contact with Natalie’s hair, the girl jerked her head up and let out a terrified shriek.

“Oh! I’m sorry! Natalie! I’m sorry!” Pepper cried out, backing away as best she could while still on her knees and in her own skirt suit. The girl’s scream quickly dissolved into heart wrenching sobs, and Pepper watched helplessly as Natalie began slapping at her face and head with disjointed, sloppy movements. What was she doing? Why was she hurting herself?

“Natalie, stop, please! Don’t hit yourself!” Pepper reprimanded, her voice sounding much more harsh and strict than she’d intended. Why was she so bad at this? Why couldn’t she just scoop the girl up into her arms and comfort her like every other Big on the planet? Why wasn’t Tony here to deal with this instead of her? This was Tony’s fault for hiring and then traumatizing the poor girl!

“Hold on Natalie, I’m gonna call Tony. He’ll use his suit and fly over, alright? He can help you. He can take you back to New York and to your Big, okay? I’m sorry I made you worse. I’m such a horrible Big. I don’t know how to do any of this. You’re crying and I don’t know how to get you to stop.” Pepper hadn’t realized she was tearing up herself until she absently rubbed at her cheek and the back of her hand came away wet.

Natalie had gone from slapping at herself to pulling at her hair, her tear stained and snot covered face scrunched up in anguish at whatever was going on inside of her head. “B-a-a-a-d,” she cried, the single syllable stretched out alongside her choking sobs.

This made Pepper pause, her phone once again in her hand and her thumb now hovering over the photo of Tony from her contacts list. All she had to do was press down and the call would be connected. She had an escape, all she had to do was make the call.

“B-a-a-a-d,” Natalie cried again, shifting her legs back and forth as best she could in the confines of her business skirt. “B-a-a-a-a-d g-i-i-i-r-l.”

Pepper locked her phone and set it down on the carpet by her knee. “Natalie, honey, you’re _not_ a bad girl,” she breathed, her heart hammering in her chest as she thought about all the times those two little words had been said towards herself growing up.

Her parents had been less than supportive of her as a child. Not abusive, necessarily, but not terribly kind. The worst of it was the semi-frequent name calling, and it had taken nearly two decades of therapy for her to accept the fact that she _hadn’t_ been a ‘bad girl’ as a child. She’d actually been a very good girl, all things considered, her parents had just really wanted a boy.

But that was neither here nor there. Pepper couldn’t do anything about her unhappy family situation at this point in the game, but she _could_ do something about whatever was causing Natalie to consider herself bad. No child, Little or otherwise, should ever feel that way about themselves.

The Little tugged roughly at her hair and slammed her heels down on the floor, causing both pumps to slip off the back of her feet. Pepper thought about helping her take them off, but before she could even raise a hand towards the girl’s feet, Natalie let out another high pitched shriek and threw her legs out, grasping unsuccessfully for her crotch through her tight pencil skirt.

“What--” Pepper raised both of her hands as she backed away another foot, her own skirt tearing at the hem as she shifted her thighs more than the fabric was designed to allow. She was still on her knees in the hallway outside of her office, and was starting to regret not dialing Tony when she’d had his number pulled up. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?” she asked again, watching helplessly as the distressed Little wriggled and squirmed in a frantic attempt to... to touch herself down there?

Suddenly Natalie stopped moving, her body going rigid as her eyes grew glossy and her lips parted in an ‘o’ shape. Oh god, was she having a seizure? “Natalie? What’s wrong? Please talk to me.” Pepper kicked her own heels off and hiked her skirt up around her knees so she could more easily move closer to her again. Not hesitating this time, she reached out and placed a hand on the girl’s knee, relieved when she didn’t instantly jerk away or scream.

That relief was short lived however, when the unmistakable scent of urine hit her nose. Oh Jesus, the girl was wetting herself! That’s why she was trying to reach for her crotch, she must have known it was about to happen and couldn’t otherwise stop it. Which meant she wasn’t just _young,_ but was likely a _baby._

“I need to call Tony,” Pepper breathed, her own panic rising at the realization that she had even less of an idea how to Care for her employee now. The youngest Little they had working in the Malibu office was 5, and Pepper had only interacted with her incidentally in passing, or during company parties while part of a larger group. She’d never been solely in charge of her needs. She wasn’t even sure if Gale wet herself at that age.

Jesus, Natalie was going to need a diaper. And a change of clothes. She couldn’t let her stay wet like this. “I’m going to call Tony and he’ll bring you a... he’ll bring you some stuff. Okay, Natalie? It’ll be okay.” That last part was probably more for herself than for the still frozen stiff girl before her. Only as soon she reached for her phone by her knee, Natalie kicked it away with her foot and made the most desperate, heartbreaking noise Pepper had ever heard come from another human being.

“Noooooooooooo…” Natalie moaned, the word stretching out for three or four seconds before she took a gasping breath and began to cry again. “Ba-a-a-a-d…”

Pepper’s heart sank into her stomach as she realized the girl thought Tony would think she were bad if he knew what she’d done. “Oh sweetheart, you’re not bad. You’re not a bad girl. You just had an accident, that’s all.”

Natalie wasn’t convinced, and her sobs suddenly turned into full body convulsions. Pepper watched in horror as the girl began to slap at her head again, this time much more forcefully, like she was actually trying to hurt herself now. Making an executive decision, Pepper reached out and grasped the girl’s wrists, tugging them down to her sides.

For a brief moment it seemed like the Little was going to fight her off, but when Natalie looked up at her and their eyes met for the first time since the encounter had started, something inside the girl seemed to break, and instead of resisting she let her arms go limp in Pepper’s grasp.

Despite Pepper’s lack of intrinsic Bigness, she’d read and reread all of the literature on ‘The Joys of Caretaking’. She knew about the bond that was sometimes formed when a Big took Care of a Little for the first time. It was kind of like ‘love at first sight’, but for Bigs and Littles, not romantic partners. She’d read about it, and she’d seen it happen for others, Tony and Happy most notably, but she’d never once in a million years thought that she’d ever feel it herself.

Bigs like her didn’t get to have heartmates. She could barely make a connection with the Little _already_ in her life, how was she supposed to do it with one she’d only met three times? She knew nothing about Natalie. She knew nothing about _Babies._ But looking into the girl’s watery, red eyes, she knew without a shadow of a doubt that the Little sitting before her right now was meant to be _hers._

Oh god, she definitely needed a drink.


	2. Chapter 2

Since the daycare center was located on the second floor of the building, Pepper had needed to coax the distraught Little to stand up and follow her downstairs. This had been no easy task since the girl’s plight was very clearly obvious from a quick glance at her backside, and even though Pepper had assured her that the building was empty, it had still taken nearly ten minutes for Natalie to calm down and agree to be moved.

Most of that time had been spent attempting to console the sobbing girl, while also trying not to freak the fuck out at the unfamiliar emotions coursing through her. It was like a bolt of lightning had suddenly struck her brain and all of her emotional nerve endings were now on fire. How the hell could this have happened? Not only now, at the worst possible moment in her life to suddenly find a Heartmate, but also with  _ her? _

Natalie Rushman was meant to be her  _ replacement,  _ not her  _ Daughter. _

Holy shit. She had a Daughter. 

“Alright sweetheart, I’m gonna wipe you down real quick. Can you hold still for me while I get all the icky off?” Pepper asked as she soaped up a Disney Princesses’ washcloth in the bathroom sink. 

Natalie was already stripped naked and standing behind her, the girl’s soiled clothing having been wadded into a ball and set on the floor next to the wastebasket.  _ To be dealt with later, _ Pepper had told her, but whether that meant cleaning them tonight herself, or letting Natalie’s adult counterpart retrieve them in the morning she wasn’t yet sure. None of the books she’d read on Caretaking Littles had ever dealt with this exact scenario. 

None of the books she’d read had mentioned how to Care for a  _ Toddler. _

“‘Kay...” Natalie whispered quietly around her thumb, which honestly broke Pepper’s heart, but also made her wince at the realization that the girl’s digit may have also been ‘icky’ at one point. She was totally screwing this up and they weren’t even ten minutes into their bond! 

“Okay, how about we start with that hand of yours?” Pepper wrung some of the soapy water out of the washcloth and then reached for Natalie’s wrist, but the girl squealed unhappily and took a step back, sucking more rapidly on her thumb in response. Pepper sighed, closing her eyes momentarily as she convinced herself to let it go. She needed to pick her battles here; she didn’t even know if the girl’s hand had been dirty to begin with. 

“I’m sorry, honey, I didn’t mean to stress you out more than you obviously already are. How about we just focus on…” she trailed off, waving the washcloth in the general direction of the girl’s lower body. 

Natalie sucked on her thumb for a few more moments, eyeing Pepper with more scrutiny than seemed appropriate for a two year old Little, but eventually she nodded and stepped forward again. 

Deciding to keep her mouth shut from here on out, Pepper simply lowered herself to her knees on the small bathroom rug and began to wipe down the girl’s thighs. Natalie seemed more than a little familiar with the process, and shifted her weight back and forth as well as turned around without needing to be prompted. 

Once Pepper was convinced the girl was clean, she tossed the cloth into the sink and then awkwardly climbed back to her feet. The bathroom was unfortunately on the smaller side, and her tight pencil skirt - albeit already ripped - made movement even more annoyingly restrictive. It was definitely going in the trash in the morning. Which was fine. Tony could buy her a new one. 

Fuck it.  _ She _ could buy herself a new one. She  _ was _ CEO of a multi-billion dollar company, after all.

“Nappy?” Natalie asked, and Pepper watched as the girl’s eyes darted around the room, as if looking for it’s hidden stash of Baby items. 

“I’m sorry Nat, I don’t think we have any diapers. You’re the only Little who works here that’s young enough to need them,” Pepper explained as she washed her hands in the sink and then dried them on a nearby towel. It occurred to her then that she hadn’t dried Natalie down, and she quickly tugged the towel from the holder and turned back around, holding it out to the girl.

Natalie was frowning at her, but nonetheless nodded her head in consent to be dried. 

Pepper didn’t much like the idea of getting back down on her knees and so simply wrapped the towel around Natalie’s hips, tucking the ends together so it would stay up. “There might be some Pull-Ups in the closet behind you. Would those be alright? If I can find some for you?” she asked as she shuffled around the girl in the overly tight space. 

Without waiting for a response, she pulled open the bifold closet door and began to hunt around for the items in question. It didn’t take long to find a small stash of pink and purple Pull-Ups tucked neatly away on the second to bottom shelf. They looked a couple sizes larger than what Natalie might normally have worn, but since they technically weren’t meant to be  _ used, _ it hopefully wouldn’t be a problem. 

Taking one of the quasi diapers from the shelf, Pepper turned around and held it up to the Little. Natalie eyed it suspiciously for half a second, before nodding her head in agreement. Apparently it would do, and Pepper honestly wanted to cry in relief. Maybe she wasn’t fucking this up as badly as she thought?

“Do you know how to put one of these on?” she asked, closing the closet door behind her as she walked the three steps back over to the center of the tiny bathroom. 

Natalie nodded her head, but made no effort to dislodge the towel from around her hips. She just continued to suck on her thumb as she watched Pepper closely.

“Do you want me to help you put it on?” Pepper tried this time. When Natalie nodded once more, she felt a little flutter in her chest and desperately tried to hide her growing smile. Natalie  _ could _ do it herself, but she didn’t want to. She wanted her  _ Mommy _ to help her. 

Wait - was she her Mommy? Or was she her Momma? Mother? Mom? 

“Nnnnn…” Natalie suddenly whined, snapping Pepper out of her thoughts. The girl was rubbing at her arm with the hand not currently attached to her lips. It looked like she was… cold? Was she shivering?  _ Shit. _

“Oh honey, I’m sorry. It  _ is _ terribly cold in here, isn’t it?” Pepper apologized, pulling at the Little’s towel and then crouching slightly so she could hold open the Pull-Up for Natalie to step into. 

“Co’d,” Natalie agreed as she placed her free hand on Pepper’s shoulder and then carefully stepped into the not quite diaper. Once both her feet were back on the rug, Pepper tugged upwards, situating the Pull-Up around the girl’s hips.

“There we go,” Pepper encouraged, tapping the Toddler lightly on her side over the crinkly plastic. This got Natalie to giggle and squirm away, turning now to the partially open bathroom door. “You ready for a movie and then naptime?” Pepper asked, walking forward and pushing the door fully open before reaching back for Natalie’s hand.

Natalie nodded eagerly and grasped Pepper’s hand, following her out of the bathroom and into the main room of the daycare. 

It was fairly large for industry standard office daycares, with one wall lined with comfy couches and bean bag chairs, and the opposite wall with bookcases and activity tables. Like the rest of Stark Industries, the back wall was floor to ceiling glass, but was decorated with various sizes and styles of window stickers. Most of them had a Disney theme, but there were also some generic animals and flowers here and there.

“Okay, well, first we’ve got to get you into something warmer than just that nappy, right? We have some pretty basic Little clothes in a bin over here, I’m sure there’s something inside that would fit you.” Pepper began to lead Natalie towards the large, green toy box nestled between two bookshelves, but the Little stopped short about three quarters of the way there. “Natalie?” 

The Toddler was looking at an arts and crafts table, one clearly designated for finger painting. There were various paint covered smocks folded over the backs of the chairs, and one in particular seemed to grab the Little’s attention. It was one of Tony’s old AC/DC t-shirts that he had donated to the daycare for such a purpose. 

Okay, so Pepper had technically been the one to “donate” it, along with a handful of his other favorite band t-shirts. She’d been pissed off at him over a stupid decision regarding a business acquisition and had taken her frustrations out by stealing some of his shirts and giving them to the daycare, to be used as smocks for painting. As far as she knew, he still had no idea what had happened to his clothes. As much as he liked to boast about his philanthropic nature, he very rarely, if ever, spent any time with the Littles in his office. Other than Happy, of course.

“You want to wear one of Tony’s old and icky shirts?” Pepper asked, wrinkling her nose at the thought of the girl putting on the no doubt stiff and uncomfortable garment. She had no idea how often the smocks were washed, and that one in particular had quite a bit of dried paint on it. 

Natalie didn’t seem to care about any of this and nodded her head, letting go of Pepper’s hand so she could walk towards the activity table and snatch it off the chair. Finally taking her thumb out of her mouth, she began to tug at the fabric, trying to find the proper opening to pull over her head. 

It was maybe a little cruel, but Pepper stood back and watched for a few moments, curious to see if the girl would succeed or not. As predicted, Natalie incorrectly stuck her arm through the neckhole and grew incredibly confused when she couldn’t fit her head through an arm hole in return. At that point Pepper stepped up and pulled the shirt into the correct position, helping her to weave her arms through the proper holes.

“There we go,” she mused, tugging the shirt down so the hem fell around Natalie’s thighs. Tony wasn’t a very large man, but his shirt looked absolutely humongous on the girl. It actually helped make her look even more her Little age than with just the Pull-Up. “Do you want me to find you some pants too?”

Natalie didn’t hesitate shaking her head, apparently satisfied with just her makeshift nightgown. Once the shirt had fallen into place she’d stuck her thumb back in her mouth, but her left one now instead of her right. Was she ambidextrous? Pepper didn’t recall reading that in her profile. 

Taking the girl’s unoccupied hand, Pepper lead her over to the center couch on the far wall, the one she knew from experience was easier to fall asleep on. Not that she’d ever done so in the presence of a Little, but there had been a few late nights early on in her career at SI where she’d retired down to the daycare instead of going home to sleep.

“Up you go,” she coaxed, patting the oversized and worn orange cushion in the center of the sofa. 

Natalie did as instructed, climbing on much like an actual child would, and then turned around and dropped onto her diapered backside, smiling up at Pepper in triumph. It made something inside Pepper’s chest tighten to see the girl beaming up at her from around her thumb. All traces of her previous distress were gone, save a few missed mascara stains beneath her eyes. 

Pepper had tried her best removing the girl’s makeup after helping her get undressed, but mascara was tricky enough to get off one's own face, let alone the face of someone you barely knew who didn’t yet seem to trust you. 

She wasn’t entirely sure if what she was witnessing now was trust, but it certainly felt along those lines. 

“Comfy?” Pepper asked, rhetorically, since it was quite obvious that the girl  _ was _ comfy. Still, Natalie nodded her head as best she could with her thumb still in her mouth. “Okay, cool.” Pepper smiled back at her and took a seat as well, dropping her nearly forgotten shoulder bag between herself and the arm of the couch. Luckily she’d been carrying both her laptop and her tablet with her, so she could hopefully get some work done while the Little watched a movie. 

“Do you know what you want to watch?” she asked as she fished the tablet out and booted it up. 

Next to her Natalie looked thoughtful for a handful of moments, then pulled her thumb from her mouth. “Li’o ‘n s’ich!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, before slotting her digit back between her lips.

“Lilo and Stitch?” Pepper clarified, making sure she’d understood the girl’s request. She’d never seen the movie herself, but remembered all the hype surrounding it’s release a few years back. It was a Disney movie with a little blue dog-like alien, and that’s about all she knew about the plot. 

Natalie made to pull her thumb out again, but then hesitated and simply nodded her head instead. She was sucking more vigorously than she was a few minutes ago, clearly needing the soothing effects more than she needed to speak. Pepper made a mental note to pick up some pacifiers the next time she was at the store. Pacifiers and diapers. 

“Alright, I’m pretty sure we have an account with that Disney Netflix service…” Pepper began tapping and swiping at the screen of the tablet, eventually finding the app she was looking for and opening it up. Thankfully the login information was saved, probably from the last time Happy had stolen her tablet. Tony liked to take away his electronics when he misbehaved, so it was definitely plausible that he’d at one point nabbed hers while trying to circumvent his punishment.

It took another few moments to find the specific movie, but once she’d hit the play button the Disney music began to sound, causing the Little next to her to swing her feet against the couch in excitement. “Here you go sweetheart. Do you think you can hold it by yourself? I need to get some work done before we both fall asleep,” she said this last bit through a badly concealed yawn. 

Natalie took the tablet into her free hand and then swung her legs up next to her, scooting a little down the couch so she could lay on her back with her head resting on Pepper’s thigh like a pillow. Once settled she propped the tablet on her stomach and began sucking on her thumb in earnest. Only this time Pepper could tell it wasn’t due to anxiety, but to contentment. 

Huh. Not only did she have a Daughter, but her Daughter was actually laying on her as if it was the most natural thing in the world. How was this her life? A week ago she’d  _ hated _ the idea of Natalie Rushman, and now? 

_ Fuck, _ it hadn’t even been an hour since she’d found the girl in the hallway outside of her office, but already Pepper knew that she was a goner. Natalie had successfully wormed her way into her previously untouched heart, and nothing was ever going to be the same again.

She had a Heartmate. A Baby. A  _ Daughter. _

Holy shit.


	3. Chapter 3

Holy shit.

Tony Stark had witnessed a lot of insane, unimaginable things in his lifetime: War and destruction and death. Flying metal robot suits. Congress. A pair of contortionist twins with severe daddy issues.

That being said, walking in on his former PA cuddled on the couch with his current PA… Tony was fairly certain he was either dreaming, or dead.

“Happy, pinch me,” he spoke quietly over his shoulder, knowing his part-time bodyguard and full-time Little was only a few feet away.

“Sure thing boss,” Happy replied, before slamming his fist into the meat of Tony’s upper arm.

Crying out at the unexpected impact, Tony spun around on his heels and glared at the man who’d just hit him. “I said pinch! Not punch!” he scolded, rubbing at his arm to try and stem the flow of pain through his already shot nerves. He was basically a walking, talking bruise after the incident at the racetrack the previous day.

Happy at least had the decency to look apologetic for hitting him, though that look quickly turned gleeful as the figures on the couch startled awake. “Oh my God! She’s wearing a diaper! She’s a Baby!” he suddenly exclaimed, laughing loudly as he pointed in front of him.

Tony turned back around just in time to see Natalie recoil in distress at Happy’s outburst, attempting to shift from her spot sprawled atop of Pepper’s torso. True to his Little’s words, the girl did appear to be wearing a diaper of some sort, as well as - wait, was that his missing AC/DC shirt!?

_Focus Tony, focus._

Pinching his eyes shut for a fraction of a second, Tony reopened them only to find that his new PA was yes, still in a diaper, and yes, still in his favorite band t-shirt, but also seemingly on the verge of tears. Oh, _hell no._ Tony could put up with a lot of evil, torturous acts, but crying females was absolutely his achilles heel. Thank God Pepper had yet to discover this truth about him.

Then again, his former PA didn’t _need_ to cry to get him to give her the world. She just had to ask. Hopefully. One of these days. Preferably before he dropped dead from palladium poisoning.

“You, naughty stool, eleven minutes, go,” Tony declared, turning once more to face Happy. Tony very rarely disciplined his Little with actual time outs, but he couldn’t very well allow him to think that teasing another Little in such a manner was acceptable.

“You can’t be serious, Boss. I’m not dropped!” Happy proclaimed, looking more than a little shocked at the order.

Tony raised an eyebrow at him. “In that case thirty-four minutes. _Go.”_

Thankfully Happy knew him well enough not to argue any further, and so reluctantly made his way across the room and towards the “time out corner”. Tony watched as the man slumped onto a bright yellow stool and crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn’t planning on making him sit there the entire thirty-four minutes, but he’d allow the Little to think that for the time being.

In the meantime, he needed to figure out just what the hell was going on between the other two occupants in the room. “Pep, you want to explain what’s going on? I thought you hated Natalie?” he asked, turning around for the umpteenth time. While he was disciplining Happy, the girls on the couch had gone from laying in each other’s arms to sitting up… in each other’s arms. Huh.

It was blatantly clear that Natalie was still dropped, and Tony watched in growing fascination as his new PA curled against Pepper’s chest, hiding her face against the woman’s uncharacteristically exposed bosom. It was also clear that Pepper’s work clothes were not meant to be slept in, judging from the ripped skirt and the missing buttons on her shirt. It struck Tony in that moment that he was kind of disappointed she hadn’t snagged one of his other band t-shirts to wear. How cute would the two of them be sitting there in matching AC/DC wear?

Shaking his head to rid himself of the inappropriate thought, he decided to focus his attention on Pepper, and gave her his best “and what do you have to say for yourself?” expression. Unfortunately it very rarely, if ever, worked on her. This morning however, she seemed to not be firing on all cylinders, and recoiled a little in… was that embarassment? What the hell?

“Pep?” he asked again, this time dropping the act and putting as much sincerity into his voice as he could muster. He was still hungover and in a world of pain from his beat down the previous day. “Did something happen last night? Are you two okay?”

Pepper tightened her grip around Natalie’s torso before resting her cheek against the back of the girl’s head. “We’re fine Tony. Perfect, actually. Natalie’s my heartmate. I found her outside my office last night and we just…” she trailed off, startled by the loud grunt of seemingly disapproval from across the room.

Tony held up his pointer finger in a “wait just a second” gesture, before turning and walking across the room towards his own Little. “I need you to run an errand for me,” he instructed the man, deciding not to berate him for his jealousy in front of the other two. He’d have words with him later after he’d finished embarrassing him with what he was about to make him do. “Diapers, bottles, bibs. Whatever a Baby needs I need you to go get. And make sure it’s girly. I want to see lace and frills and _pink_ when you return.”

Happy looked doubly struck, like making him go shopping for a Baby was bad enough, but also making him pick out girly items? Tony smiled to himself that he knew his Little well enough to know how to make a statement. This was a punishment as much as it was a favor, but he knew Happy wouldn’t be able to turn down helping his “Old Man” out, even if it meant traumatizing himself in the process.

Holding a hand out, Tony helped the man up from off the stool and then clapped him warmly on the shoulder. “I know you can do this, Hap. And hey, if you don’t want to carry it inside yourself, just have the guys at the front desk do it, then take the rest of the day off. I’ll see you tonight for some WWE action. Bautista’s going down.”

Happy seemed to snap out of his disgruntlement at this last statement and he shook his head wildly. “You wish boss. John Cena’s an overrated hack.”

Tony smirked as he removed his hand from Happy’s shoulder and placed it over his arc reactor. “Your words are like tiny pieces of shrapnel embedding themselves in my heart,” he teased, grinning when the other man just rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Still too soon? Yeah, alright. I’ll see you at seven. Don’t be late!”

Once Happy had exited the daycare, Tony relaxed a fraction and slowly turned back to the couch and its occupants. “Sorry about that. He doesn’t mean anything by it, Pep, Natalie. Nat. Can I call you Nat?”

The Little in question shifted in Pepper’s lap, opting now to use the woman’s chest as a pillow instead of a hiding spot. Tony cocked his head to the side and waited, grinning inwardly to himself when the girl eventually looked up at him and nodded her head. Tony wasn’t a fan of Baby’s, or really any Little younger than his own heartmate, but he had to admit that Natalie was rather adorable and… and... oh shit. Oh _fuck._ He knew that feeling.

“Uh Pep-”

“Can you watch her for a second? I really need to use the restroom,” Pepper interrupted his suddenly flaring panic, either oblivious to it, or just really needing to pee. Before Tony could say anything else, Pepper was helping to guide the girl off of her lap and onto the couch cushions. “I’ll be quick,” she insisted before pressing a kiss to the side of Natalie’s head.

The girl looked less than thrilled to let her go, but didn’t put up a fight as Pepper hauled herself up from the couch and began making her way towards him and subsequently the bathroom.

“For the love of God Tony, please don’t ruin this for me,” Pepper whispered as she passed him, and it took all of Tony’s willpower not to reply with something snarky in return. It actually hurt him more than he’d ever admit that she thought he would fuck this up for her. Pepper finally finding a heartmate was a _huge_ deal, and he was happy for her. Truly.

He also had the sinking suspicion that he was _also_ Natalie’s heartmate, so that kind of sucked, depending on how you looked at it. Would Pepper be angry with him for stealing what was hers? Not that Natalie was an object that could be stolen, but her heart kind of technically was. Pepper was her heartmate, but quite possibly so was he? _Fuck,_ this was confusing. How did a Little even _have_ two heartmates? Wasn’t that against the rules?

“So uh, am I freaking out for no reason or are we….?” Tony asked, taking half a dozen steps towards the couch. He had to figure this out before Pepper returned so he could decide if he needed to leave the country or not. Heartmate bonds weren’t set in stone, and it _was_ possible to halt or break them with enough time and distance put in place. It would royally suck having to avoid Pepper for what would probably be the last few months of his life, but he would do it if he had to.

He may have been selfish about a lot of things in his life, but he wasn’t about to ruin this for the two of them. Even if Pepper was okay with sharing Natalie, he was _dying,_ and he wasn’t about to put a Little through the same trauma he’d experienced losing his own parents. He had enough guilt as it was regarding Happy, but he’d at least had decades with the man before all of this had happened.

Natalie didn’t respond to his question, and so Tony took another few steps closer until his shins hit the edge of the couch. It was then that he remembered how much physical pain he was in, and despite his better judgment he took a seat next to the girl. “Look, I’m really happy for you and Pepper. I mean, it’s kind of weird, because you’re technically her replacement, or maybe that makes it less weird? I don’t know. I’ve never really understood these things.” He was rambling now, but he couldn’t stop.

“And I’m not saying that I wouldn’t _want_ to be your Heartmate too, if that’s what the universe is trying to tell us. But I think all things considered, it might be a bad idea. Pepper’s been waiting for this moment her entire life, and for me to come in here and cheapen it for her by _also_ being your Heartmate… I just couldn’t do that to her, ya know? Pepper means the world to me, and I want her to have this, with you. She deserves this.” He was so focused on his disjointed train of thought that he didn’t even notice the Little shifting beside him until the girl was practically in his lap.

Natalie carefully perched herself atop of his thighs and stared across at him, her eyes wide and imploring and _innocent._ Oh God, he couldn’t do this. He couldn’t - he was going to hurt her. _Ruin_ her. He was going to hurt Pepper.

“Natalie-”

“Nat.”

“Nat, right. This isn’t…” Tony floundered, trying to look anywhere but at the face just inches from his own. He could already feel the bond forming and knew if he was going to stop this, he had to stop it now. “We can’t be-” The words died in his throat as Natalie pressed a brief, childish kiss to his lips and then leant forward, tucking herself against his chest with her head butted underneath his chin.

“Dada,” the girl whispered, before bringing her hand up and sticking her thumb in her mouth.

_Well fuck._

“That’s right sweetheart. Dada’s here,” Tony whispered back as he wrapped his arms around the girl, sighing inwardly to himself. Pepper was going to _murder_ him, he just knew it. But maybe he kinda didn’t care anymore? Even if he only had a few months with the two of them before he inevitably croaked, in that moment, sitting there with his brand new Baby Girl in his arms, he definitely thought it was worth it.


	4. Chapter 4

To say things had snowballed from there would be an understatement. A second ago Tony had been cuddling his new Baby Girl in his lap, and now? Now he had her tossed over his shoulder as he bounced recklessly atop the couch cushions. The sudden flurry of activity was murdering his back and wreaking havoc on his stomach, but Natalie’s delighted squeals as she flopped helplessly in his hold made the discomfort more than worth it.

He was having _fun._ With a _Baby._ What was this world coming to?

Changing tactics, he tightened his hold on the backs of the girl’s legs and stepped up onto the arm of the couch, glad he’d thought to remove his shoes before he’d initiated the roughhousing. The last thing he needed was to slip and break something. Or worse, break Natalie. But she seemed to have a firm hold around his midsection, even from upside down, so he pushed the concern aside and began to climb up onto the back of the couch.

The ceiling was tall enough that he didn’t hit his head once he’d ascended to the highest point of the furniture. There wasn’t all that much room to maneuver, however, since he didn’t want to squish the Little between himself and the wall. Though judging from the firmness of his new Daughter’s calves, he doubted he’d be able to squish her even if he tried to.

“You want more jumpies?” he asked, turning a little so that he was facing the wall himself now and Natalie’s upper body was hanging over the distant couch cushions. He wasn’t sure he could really bounce as well up here as he could down there, but he’d give it a shot for his Baby Girl’s sake. If he slipped and killed them both, well then at least he wouldn’t have to worry about dying from heavy metal poisoning.

The girl hanging over his shoulder giggled loudly and nodded her head. Or at least it felt like she was nodding, since Tony couldn’t very well see her with how he was holding her. “Okay then, hold on! Jumpies in three… two....”

“OH MY GOD TONY! YOU’RE GOING TO DROP THE BABY! PUT HER DOWN RIGHT NOW!”

“Busted…” he laughed somewhat awkwardly, hoping to cover up the fact that he’d forgotten that Pepper was around and would likely scold him for his actions. Which was strange because he never usually lost track of where she was or what she was doing. Maybe having a new Heartmate was affecting his brain as well as his emotions? “Alright, you heard your Mama. Should I PUT YOU DOWN RIGHT NOW?”

Natalie giggled as she squirmed a little in his grasp, and then made what was very clearly an ‘affirmative’ noise.

“Alrighty then. Dropies in three… two… one…!”

“TONY NO!”

But it was too late. He’d already released his grip on Natalie’s legs while at the same time she released her hold around his chest. He could feel her start to slide down his back and managed to turn around just in time to see her effect some sort of mid-air somersault and land safely on her back on the cushions below.

Which was actually pretty impressive for a Baby, but who was he kidding? He was _Tony Fucking Stark,_ of _course_ his Little would be amazingly talented and awesome. Like Dada like Daughter, right?

Tony didn’t have much time to revel on this fact since the next thing he knew Pepper was practically yanking him down from the top of the couch so she could more easily scream and flail at him. Tony was only partially listening since he’d long ago learned to tune out his PA’s rather lengthy and often times explicit diatribes, but he did catch the words ‘skinned’ and ‘alive’ at one point.

“Are you even listening to me Tony?! I ask you to do one thing. ONE THING. Not to ruin this for me. And then you go and nearly break my Little’s neck!” Pepper was pacing now, both hands perched on her hips as she fumed in his direction.

“Uh, hate to break it to you Pep, but she’s not just _your_ Little,” Tony countered, taking a step back from the woman so he could sit himself on the arm of the couch. Natalie was still laying across the cushions, but had turned onto her side and was now sucking on her thumb as she watched the two of them. Tony really hated the idea of fighting in front of her, but this discussion most definitely couldn’t wait.

“What do you mean? She’s got another Heartmate?” Pepper halted her pacing. She looked stunned, as if the idea that she wasn’t the girl’s sole Caregiver hadn’t even crossed her mind.

“Yep. You’re looking at him.” This was not at all how he’d intended to tell her, but he had to roll with the punches here if he were going to win this fight. Which was probably a horrible way to look at things since winning meant Pepper losing, and _fuck,_ that’s not what he wanted _at all._ He wanted them _both_ to be Natalie’s Caregivers. Together. Like Soulmates and shit.

Because Tony was pretty certain Pepper was his Soulmate, even if maybe twelve percent of the time she couldn’t stand to even look at him or be near him. But hey, having a Little together could change that, right?

Judging from the devastated look on Pepper’s face, he was thinking maybe not.

“Tony, I don’t even know what to say right now,” Pepper sighed, deflating from her earlier outburst as if she’d just been defeated in a verbal duel. Which again was _not_ what Tony had wanted. _God damn_ he was bad at this.

He opened his mouth to somehow confirm that he was incredibly fucking bad at this, and that he’d never meant to hurt her, but before he could get even a syllable out, Pepper’s phone began to ring from the bag sitting at the foot of the couch. He didn’t recognize the ringtone, but it was obvious that his former PA did, and it was not good, whatever it was.

“Oh shit! I totally forgot I have a meeting this morning with Laramie from the Bosch Institute. Damnit how could I forget?! I’ve had this on the calendar for a month!” Pepper had already begun repacking her things into her bag before she’d even finished explaining. “Tony I can’t miss this meeting. Not after what happened yesterday. If we lose this contract…”

Tony already knew the end of that statement and raised his hands in acquiescence. “It’s fine Pep, really. You’re the boss now. You go do the breadwinning CEO thing. I’ll stay home and watch the Kid.”

That gave Pepper pause, and Tony cringed internally for reminding her what she’d be missing by leaving. Of course she wouldn’t want to leave Natalie, not after just bonding with her. But the Bosch Institute was one of their biggest clients in the area, and Director Laramie was not the type to shrug off being stood up for an important business meeting. Tony knew this from personal experience, obviously. How he’d managed to keep S.I. afloat before Pepper came into his life, he had no idea.

“Tony, I-” Pepper groaned in frustration as her phone began ringing again and she finally dug it out of her bag and pressed it to her ear.

Not wanting to crowd her while she sweet talked another man into not dropping them on their ass, Tony instead focused his attention on the third occupant in the room. Natalie was still curled up on her side on the couch, but she’d switched from sucking on her thumb to chewing on the neckline of her shirt. Well, _his_ shirt, which was dirty and covered in what looked like dried paint. Ew.

“Hey, no chewies, that’s yucky,” he tsked, crouching down on the floor and tugging the fabric from her mouth. Natalie looked a mix between sad at losing her comfort, and scared that she’d just been scolded. For the second time in less than ten minutes Tony felt his heart threatening to leap out of his chest as he watched the Little’s eyes fill with tears. “Oh, hey, no crying, please. I’m not mad at you, but that shirt is icky, and we don’t put icky things in our mouths, right?”

Natalie sniffled and wiped at her eyes, neither confirming nor denying his statement. She looked miserable though, like she wanted to cry but also didn’t want to disobey him. Shit, maybe Pepper _shouldn’t_ leave him in charge of the Kid. It was easy when she was laughing and happy, but this? He was in waaaay over his head here.

“She needs a pacifier, Tony,” Pepper paused in her pleading with the businessman on the other end of the phone just long enough to make him feel like an even bigger idiot. Of course that’s what she needed! She _was_ a Baby, after all.

But wait - should he call Happy and make sure he was picking her up one? Or was that being too micromanaging? Happy absolutely hated when he tried to ‘backseat drive’ stupid things. He said it made him feel like he was eleven years old even when he wasn’t dropped. Which, other than for justifiable punishments, Tony absolutely abhorred the idea of doing to him.

While he internally debated over this, Natalie had gone back to sucking on her thumb, her eyes wide and intense as she stared across at him as if waiting to once again be scolded. Softening a little, he reached out and brushed his fingers through her curly, dark red hair. She seemed to enjoy the touch, sucking a little less feverishly at her soggy digit while also closing her eyes.

Was she tired? Was she trying to go to sleep so she could wake back up as an adult again? Tony kind of hoped that wasn't the case. He wasn’t ready to stop being Dada just yet.

“Uh huh, of course. I’ll see you in ten minutes for our meeting.”

That got Tony’s attention, and he paused in his stroking of his Daughter’s hair to turn his upper body towards Pepper. “Can’t get out of it huh? Laramie always was a prick. Want me to put on the suit and create another national incident? I’m sure there’s already television helicopters circling above, just waiting for me to fuck up again.”

Natalie twitched under his hand at the expletive and he frowned, suddenly aware that he was going to have to adjust his language when she was around. Well that fucking sucked. He may as well become mute for all the things he didn’t know how to say without a curse word sprinkled here and there. Drawback number one for having a Baby as a Heartmate.

“No, no more national incidents, and no more suits. Not until the dust settles and we find out whether Stark Industries is even a viable company anymore. No one wants to do business with a megalomaniacal terrorist enabler. Which, I know you aren’t, Tony, but Laramie seems to think you _gave_ that man from the racetrack yesterday your technology.”

Tony frowned even harder at this and turned around fully now, shifting from his crouching position to a seated one against the foot of the couch. “How does that even make sense? That Russkie tried to kill me, Pep. I don’t give weapons to people who want to kill me anymore. Contrary to popular belief, I _do_ learn from my mistakes.”

Pepper strangely didn’t respond to that, and instead began attempting to fix the top of her blouse where one of the buttons seemed to be missing.

“Hold up, you’re not going dressed like that are you? You look like you just rolled out of bed and were then attacked by a pack of small dogs.” His eyes were mainly on the tear in her skirt, which went up the side of her leg nearly half the length of the material. There was no way in hell he was letting her into a boardroom looking like that.

“I have no choice Tony. He won’t postpone the call just because all of this happened.” She waved her hand in the air, indicating both himself and Natalie next to him. “Besides, it’s just a conference call. If I put on my jacket he won’t be able to see the worst of it.”

Tony wasn’t entirely convinced, but he wasn’t about to stop her at this point. She was most likely just going to her office for the call, so he could always have Jarvis keep an eye on her and make sure things didn’t go too far south.

Laramie wasn’t just a prick, he was also an asshole who liked to take advantage of other people’s weaknesses to better himself and his company. And one of Pepper’s biggest weaknesses was the fear that others wouldn’t take her seriously in the business world. If Laramie could sense that she wasn’t prepared for this meeting… well, other than the fact that she was already going to be late to it, he was going to tear into her and probably cancel the contract.

Though to be perfectly honest, Tony had been considering terminating the agreement anyways, back when he was still CEO and wasn’t yet aware that he was dying. But since he _wasn’t_ CEO anymore, and he _was_ dying, he couldn’t very well let one of their biggest money makers walk away. No, he had to fix this. He had to be the one to go to that meeting instead of Pepper.

And he would have totally made that offer, if not for the hand that suddenly reached out and touched his shoulder. Turning his head, he was startled to see Natalie staring across at him, looking less like the Baby she was five minutes ago, and more like the young woman he’d seen in the boxing ring almost two weeks ago. He had called her an ‘old soul’ back then, and it was startling to see how correct his original assessment was.

It was in her eyes - this intensity and understanding that very much belied her current mental age. Was she no longer dropped? How could she have aged up so quickly without either of them noticing? Or _feeling?_ He always knew when Happy was done being Little because that sense of wanting to Care for him simply went away. His desire to Care for Natalie was still present, however, so she couldn’t have possibly aged up, right? Unless it worked differently with younger Littles?

Oh god, was he going to feel this way towards her forever? How the fuck was he ever going to get anything done around here if all he ever wanted to do was cuddle up on the couch and read his new PA a plethora of children’s books? Dammit, he was going to have to buy a bunch of children’s books now, wasn’t he? Happy hated reading even more than he hated vegetables, so he’d always considered himself lucky in that regards. Drawback number two, it would seem.

“If you’re really going to Caretaker her while I’m gone, keep in mind she’s going to need her diaper checked, and possibly changed pretty soon.” Pepper’s words of wisdom once again snapped him back to reality, and he simply blinked across at Natalie, trying to discern if the expression he was witnessing was actually her “i’m peeing right now” face. He sincerely hoped she wasn’t since the diaper she was wearing looked three sizes too big for her.

“Diaper check and change, got it. Happy should be back soon with all that stuff anyways and then we’ll figure it out from there, won’t we pumpkin?” he half stated, half asked, keeping his eyes on the Little in front of him the entire time. He could hear Pepper moving around behind him, collecting the last of her things before she took off, but he wasn't ready to look away from Natalie just yet. Not even to say goodbye to his best friend and maybe one day his Soulmate.

He knew Pepper could take care of herself, even though he’d momentarily doubted her not even sixty seconds ago. It was a good thing Natalie had grabbed his attention then, otherwise he might have tried sticking his nose where it no longer belonged and ended up making this thing between them even worse. He didn’t want that, even more than he didn’t want Pepper to lose the Bosch contract.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, Natalie. If… If _Daddy_ Tony gives you any trouble, you come find me alright? I’ll be upstairs in my office, the same one you were sitting outside last night.”

Tony did his best not to wince at the hesitation in Pepper’s voice, not liking how difficult it was for her to refer to him as the Little’s Dad. But he supposed she hadn’t avoided the term all together, so that at least meant she was past the denial stage in her grief at having to share the girl with him. He had faith though that she would get to acceptance eventually. He just hoped it happened before he dropped dead and none of it really mattered anymore.

Natalie suddenly released her hold on his shoulder, and Tony watched in actual amazement as the expression on the Little’s face instantly shifted back to _Baby_ the moment Pepper came around the side of the couch in order to lean down and place a kiss to her temple. Huh. So she was definitely still dropped, but was possibly not as young or as innocent as she seemed? An old soul in the figurative mind of a child, in the literal body of an adult.

Natalie Rushman was certainly an enigma, but one he thought he might actually be okay with never solving. He didn’t need to understand his Daughter to know that he loved her with all of his heart. Holy shit, he was becoming a _sap._ Unexpected drawback number three, or was it number four? He’d already lost count.

“You be good for your Daddy while I’m gone. And Tony, if you so much as even _think_ about climbing back onto the furniture with her on your shoulders, so help me I will tank this company so fast and so far that even Hammer Industries would pass up the opportunity to acquire it.”

If Tony hadn’t known Pepper for almost a decade, he might have thought she were actually serious with the straight faced way she’d just said all that. But he knew she wouldn’t risk ruining the lives of all the people who worked for Stark Industries just to get back at him. No, she’d probably just cut him out of the company and her life entirely, which to him was a whole lot worse. He may not have been a megalomaniacal terrorist enabler, but he _was_ selfish when it came to the people he cared about.

“For the hundredth time, we’ll be fine. We’ll stay down here until Happy comes back with her stuff, and then maybe we’ll go upstairs to the gym? Not to box! But just to hang out? The Daycare will be opening soon and I’d kind of like to keep this turn of events off the public radar for the foreseeable future,” he explained, hoping they understood he was more worried about their safety than he was his image.

Pepper’s expression softened a tad bit, and he watched in relief as she nodded in agreement. “Alright, I’ll catch up with the two of you in a few hours. Or the three of you, if Happy wants to stick around. We can do lunch; maybe have something delivered?”

Tony nodded enthusiastically, not caring he most likely seemed overeager and maybe even like a Little himself. “Sounds great. I’ll have Jarvis pull up some menus. Now go, before you’re even _more_ late and end up losing the company _millions.”_

Pepper must have understood he was only teasing her, as she simply rolled her eyes at him as she straightened back up and grabbed her bag once more from off the floor. “Alright. Be good you two, and have fun. Just not _too much_ fun.”

Tony couldn’t help but smile mischievously at this, and he raised both his hands to give her a double thumbs up. Next to him Natalie giggled from around her thumb, and he shushed her playfully from the side of his mouth.

Pepper didn’t look entirely convinced that they wouldn’t break every bone in their bodies while she was away, but since she really did have to get going, all she could do was give them both a stern look as she passed by them on the way out the door.

Tony waited a good five seconds before turning his attention fully to Natalie, relieved to see she was still in Baby mode and not... whatever mode she was in earlier. He wanted his Baby Daughter right now, not a puzzle he may or may not ever get the chance to solve. She seemed to sense this, maybe, because the next thing he knew she was pulling herself up from her prone position on the couch in order to climb on top of him again.

“Oh, I see how it is. You only want me for my jumpies, huh?” he asked, pressing a hand over his arc reactor as he feigned hurt.

Natalie giggled and nodded her head, squirming so she could better perch her tummy across his shoulder. She was facing the opposite way this time, which meant he had to reach up and place his hand across her diapered backside to keep her from sliding too far forward. It wasn’t as easy as being able to hold her legs, but it would do the trick.

“If Pepper ever gets wind of this, she’s going to stick us _both_ in the naughty corner,” he remarked as he slowly pulled himself to his feet. He was being incredibly careful, not wanting to shift her too much or too far, but also not wanting to aggravate any of his still present, numerous injuries. This was a really, really stupid idea, but fuck it. You only live once, right?

“Alright Pumpkin, hang on to Dada,” he instructed as he climbed back up onto the couch. “The 2009 World Jumpies Championship will recommence in three… two… one!”

**Author's Note:**

> Just a clarification on terminology - Heartmates is the cross dynamic equivalent of Soulmates. But while individuals typically only have one Soulmate, it's quite common for them to have more than one Heartmate (usually a married couple, but not always). 
> 
> Pepper being Natasha's Heartmate doesn't change her relationship with any of the other Bigs in her life. Laura is still Mommy Laura and Fury and Coulson are Papa's (Uncles) to her. It's simply that the bond she will have with Pepper will be stronger, and have a heavier spiritual and emotional aspect to it. It will go above and beyond what she has with the others, but not diminish what she has with the others.
> 
> And to hopefully settle some of your fears, I'll go ahead and spoil that Natasha will have more than one Heartmate in this series. She'll actually have more than two ;) So Natasha & Pepper isn't technically endgame, or at least, it's only a portion of her endgame.


End file.
